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There had been some confusion prior to arrival as to which precise location on Bali we would be disembarking and whether it would be dockside or by tender. P&O mushroom management once again prevailed and at seemingly the last moment Cap'n Bob gave us 24 hrs notice that we would be anchoring off shore at Benoa with a 2-3 mile tender link to shore, but we all enjoy the excitement of tendering soo...... much. Couple of quick emails to our pre-arranged guide, Mully, to ensure he will be there and, lo and behold, after disembarking shortly after 8am we landed at Benoa dock about 30 minutes later to be met by dancing girls, Balinese musicians and good old Mully. But, boy is it hot already. Geographers will tell you it's something to do with the Equator and that kind of stuff.
To say we had been looking forward to Bali is a bit of an understatement. One of our number had, in their youth, been quite taken with the film South Pacific. Yes, I know, wrong ocean, but right climate; it's an island and there's a song called Bali Hai, so, poetic licence OK? Indeed, one of our party had been known to bunk off school to watch said film, and, I regret to report, another one, Summer Holiday, with some donkey called Cliff Richard in it! That's where the travel bug started. Nuff said? Anyway we had high hopes.
We had teamed up with 4 others on our dinner table for the tour which we had originally booked back in December. Total cost 75 dollars US, fantastic value. The dock area, as so often with dock areas was pretty uninspiring, but that soon changed. Through the capital of Denpasar we headed inland. The roads are mostly fairly narrow and the scooters are back in their hundreds, but with none of the frantic hooting of India and Vietnam. Here you just get the sense life is more laid back and peaceful.
One of the interesting features of the settlements is the high level of local specialisation; as we are leaving Denpasar we pass through a cluster of silver and metalworking districts. We see local people, mostly women, working the silver into fine jewellery which is then brought to large open shop spaces. All prices are indicative, haggling is expected, Mully is quite clear that you should aim to get towards 30% of asking price, certainly well below 50%. We buy a few little bits and pieces at what we think are reasonable prices, everybody seems happy. The people are so pleasant and polite, you can feel Bali growing on you; this is a good place.
We move on, next to Puseh temple. There is a dress code, so picture in your mind the image of us all in sarongs, thoughtfully made available from the village dressing up box. The temple was across the road from the carpark and dressing up box, so in order to cross the busy road there were 2 members of the village 'neighbourhood watch' stopping the traffic by waving red flags. No fluorescent coats, hats and lollipop sticks here! Not only does every village have its' own temple but so does every home. The Balinese are just completing a 10 day religious festival, most people will have returned to their home villages for this, and the temple still shows signs of decoration etc. It's quite an interesting religion here, basically Hindu, the Balinese have incorporated bits and pieces of many other creeds as they have seen value to it. So there are Chinese influences, Islamic, Polynesian, Javanese and more. You sense this capacity to embrace other views and ideas is part of the essential easy going Balinese culture. In the confines of the temple complex are many smaller shrines to individual deities, each with their own particular responsibility, there are good spirits and bad ones, the latter need to be appeased, or frightened away (hence some of the more grotesque carvings), most need to be given offerings of food or goodies. Wonder how the Dean at Grimsby Minster would take to a couple of apples, a handful of rice and a bit of fish all laid out on a banana leaf in Sunday's collection. Widows mite and all that eh? Quaintest touch here is the c*** fighting arena next to the Temple; some Gods need to be appeased with blood offerings, but you can't have ritual sacrifices, so c*** fighting, with a little bit of betting on the side and the odd drink, does the job nicely. Everyone's happy.
From the temple we move on, most of the roadside shops etc are now clearly specialising in wood carving. Of course we had to stop at one of the workshops in Mas. Built around a courtyard there is a little community, basically an extended family under the leadership of an aged uncle who is sitting quietly on the terrace under a thatched bamboo roof. He no longer does any carving as ha has a bad back! The menfolk sit crosslegged on a terrace with basic tools crafting everything from face masks to wall hangings to carved animals etc etc in a variety of different woods - mahogany, ebony, teak. The younger men seem to undertake the first broad shapes, the older men then do the fine, detailed work. Women sit to the rear doing the final polishing; I'm sure there is a message in there, I just don't seem to be able to put it into words, I feel thoughts fighting to get out but vocabulary fails me, or is it cowardice. Between us we indulge in a bit more therapy in the shop area, before the boss man shows us around the living areas - separate buildings, simple but very solid and well appointed, for each family unit, and as someone marries a new building will be added. We notice a large ornate bed under an open canopy, very grand looking. Is this where senior uncle sleeps we ask, not yet it seems; this is the laying out bed for when someone dies, a very open and prepared society this. We resist the temptation to stop in the next community, stonemasons. Not sure that P&O's tender operation could cope with a 4 foot high Buddha sat on my lap, or me on his for that matter.
We move on to lunch. And this is something else, quite one of the most spectacular views we have come across. This, in it's own way, easily rivals natural features such as Bryce Canyon, which we have waxed lyrical over in the past. As an indication of unrefined man's ability to adapt to and live with his natural environment the complex terraced rice paddies of upland Bali almost defy description. Lunch is at an open air restaurant on a terrace perched on the side of a steep valley at Tegalalang. Seemingly every inch of space on the valley sides have been terraced to form rice paddies. Some of the terraces are only a few feet wide and water flows down through the paddies in a complex series of channels. Little huts dot the terraces where families can shelter during their days labours.
As we eat one of the most delicious, and beautifully presented meals we have had, either on this holiday or beyond, we fall further under the spell of Bali. Bet none of their staff have City and Guilds Level 1 or some manic "chef" cursing like a maniac and yet it could not be bettered. Nasi Goreng, grilled tuna marinated with chillies(hot, hot, hot) with rice freshly cooked, washed down with a glass of Bintang(Bali beer), perfect, served with a simple charm and for 6 of us we paid US$ 10 a head. Further up the valley we visited Bali Pulina at Pujung Kelod, Tegallalong. This is an agro-tourist centre which aims to show the best of local agricultural projects producing coffee and cocoa. We could have been at the Eden Project but this was the REAL thing! The site was set out on the hillside with paths leading past coffee and cocoa plants interspersed with, lemongrass, ginseng, turmeric, vanilla and cinnamon plants. Balinese coffee(Luwak) is special at the best of times, but allowing the best coffee beans to pass through the digestive tract (putting it politely) of civets prior to collection, drying and roasting adds a distinctive flavour to this type of coffee. Producing it this way is so much quicker because the whole process takes only 2 days instead of 2 weeks by the traditional method. Yes, we tried all different types of coffee and despite our reservations we all preferred the 'civet coffee'. Tried the chocolate made from local beans; Cadburys has nothing to worry about. Whilst trying a dozen or more different coffees we were again treated to beautiful views of the valley, terraced with paddy fields and the rain forest towering above.
Because of the 10 day holiday the traffic has been very heavy. Unfortunately it meant we had to miss out a drive up to the volcano, Mt. Batur, Lake Batur and the monkey forest. Oh well we'll just have to come back to visit them another day!
The final visit of the day was to an art cooperative where local artwork was on display. Yes, we bought a painting, as we always do when we visit somewhere special, and it will hang alongside those from Norway, St. Michael's, Maryland, Istanbul, Calpe and Norwood Park, Southwell at home. Again, the compound was typical of Bali, with the workshop surrounded by the low thatched buildings where the extended family lived.
The rules of the road are pretty much the same as those in the other parts of Asia we have visited - anything goes. They drive on the left, well, most of the time. Children as young as 12 drive scooters and mopeds usually with a passenger; we saw a family of 5 on one scooter - not a helmet in sight! Mully informed us that the police turn a blind eye to it all.
And so we had to make our way back to Benoa in a stream of traffic heading back to Denpasar from the villages inland where they had been celebrating before returning to work the next day. Reluctantly we said our goodbyes to Mully and his brother Hari who did the driving, to head for the tender back to the ship which lay 2 miles at anchor offshore because of the coral reef. No lifeboat this time though - P&O hired a local pleasure catamaran holding 200 people to ferry us back to Oriana, much quicker we thought. That was till we had to disembark onto the pontoon (a platform which extends out from Deck 4) and one by one go through security and put all our bags through the scanner. It took forever! But we're so chilled out now that it really didn't matter.
We have written this on our day at sea heading to Darwin, and quite an eventful day too. Wondering why the ship appeared to be going slowly, an announcement from the bridge informed passengers that the hull of a small ship, appeared to be sticking out of the sea. Apparently all vessels are expected to slow down and investigate. Oriana did a swift arse about and headed to the white pointed structure in the sea. The Zodiac rescue vessel was launched complete with a crew and a doctor. The vessel appeared to be a 15 metre fishing boat with its nets out. There appeared to be no signs of life. In this situation the Captain has to mark the position on the ship's chart and report it to the nearest coastguard. So far no further news; so we don't know if the crew were safe or not or if it had already been reported. Maybe we will have an update tomorrow. Today has been absolutely scorching - the hottest yet at 35c. Even in the shade on deck with a breeze blowing it was too much to sit out. So we have been catching up with postcard writing, writing up the blog, planning the day in Darwin and compiling a shopping list, which will have to include a new cozzie - the chemicals in the pool would appear to be very strong and they have wrecked it, along with sending another person's gold jewellery black!
Today is Valentine's Day which we are spending sitting on the deck - in the shade, crossing the Timor Sea hoping for a sighting of dolphins, flying fish or whales. No news of the sunken vessel from the Officer of the Watch at midday but he had composed a poem for us all which, of course included a line about his favourite girl - Oriana - the lad has a sense of humour, but as a better Deck Officer than poet!
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